


The Difference

by lavenderhxney



Category: Hermitcraft, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Escapee Grian, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Magic, More tags to be added, Panic Attacks, References to Evo, Watcher Grian, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-07-21 05:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19996873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderhxney/pseuds/lavenderhxney
Summary: Grian hates being a Watcher. They treat him like a child, and he's sick of it. He would give anything to be free of their supervision. One day, he gets his wish. But is everything really perfect?





	1. Child, Child

**Author's Note:**

> im so excited about this yall would not believe. evo was my favorite series on grians channel and i was really sad that it ended (i love hermitcraft so so so much but it isnt quite the same, you know?) this is going to be a short fic, only 7 chapters, but i really think that you guys are going to enjoy this (at least, i hope that you will.) im not going to have a strict upload schedule, but my goal is to upload twice a week. dont get mad if it doesnt happen tho cuz i start school on thursday and im taking a ton of ap classes. 
> 
> well, thats all im going to say. enjoy!
> 
> tumblr: lemonade-cherry  
> mineblr: cherry-minecraft

Grian absolutely hated his life with the Watchers. He loved Evo with his heart and soul, even if life was painfully slow he relished in every moment. There was nothing he wouldn’t give to go back. To go anywhere, actually. Anything was better than where he was. 

The Watchers never saw him as equal, not in the slightest. They treated him like a child, which, when you’re thousands of years old, a 23-year-old probably does seem like a child. It didn’t mean he liked it any less. They insisted on dressing him in the mornings, washing his hair in the bath, spoon-feeding him his meals. He couldn’t go anywhere without supervision, and some of the feminine Watchers (for none of them seemed to have a defined gender) had taken to using him like a dress-up doll. 

“Hey, Xelqua, wake up.” A hand, about twice the size of his, slowly shook him awake. Oh yeah, the Watchers were also huge compared to him. Didn’t help with the child image. Venus, one of the more bearable of the Watchers, was trying to wake him up. 

“Is it morning already?” He asked, sitting up in his bed. His hair, messy from sleep, poofed in every direction, and Venus tried to smooth it down. Emphasis on tried. 

“Yes, in fact, we’re late. I let you sleep in, so we need to head to breakfast. You can bathe after.” Grian sighed to himself and got out of bed. It was too big for him. Everything here was too big for him. His bare feet hit the ground. (He never wore shoes. The Watchers didn’t have any pairs that fit and never bothered crafting him a new pair.) He pulled off his nightshirt, slipping a new, clean shirt on. It fit him like a dress, so he tied a brown belt around his waist and grabbed Venus’ hand. He wasn’t allowed to go anywhere unless someone else was holding on to him. 

“Venus, you’re late.” Zianne, one of the oldest Watchers, scolded them. 

“Sorry, Xelqua here had some trouble getting out of bed.” They took their seats. Grian had to sit on the table. His chair was too big for him. 

“When does he not. The little one is nothing but trouble. I told the council we shouldn’t accept him for at least another thousand years, but when do they listen to me. His wings are going to grow in stunted at this rate.”

“My wings are growing just fine, thank you very much. I can hear you, by the way.” Grian huffed, swinging his feet aimlessly. Zianne frustrated him to no extent, they never had anything positive to say about him. 

“Hush little one. Here’s your food.” They handed the duo two bowls and returned to their seat. Venus grabbed Grian’s spoon, feeding him a mouthful of the mush, before beginning to eat their food. He only got a bite whenever Venus bothered to give him one. He couldn’t wait until the Watchers saw him as equal, but that didn’t seem like it was going to happen for a very long time. He sighed. 

“What are we doing today?” He asked Venus. 

“You have a checkup with the council, they want to see how well your wings are growing in. If they aren’t almost developed your going to have to start taking supplements, they want to start flying lessons soon.”

“Will you be accompanying me for thi-” Venus shoved another bite of food in his mouth, and his question was cut off. 

“No, Zianne will. The council prefers the company of the elders, you know this. But I can tuck you in tonight if you want?” 

“Sure.” Grian huffed. He wasn’t a child. He didn’t need to be tucked into bed. He was anyways. 

After breakfast, Zianne picked him up and carried him to the bathing rooms, where they made quick work of making him look presentable. Once his skin was clean and his hair was properly tamed they gave him a pair of brown pants, which hung off of him. He had to use an extra piece of string to make sure they wouldn’t fall down his waist. They didn’t give him a shirt, so he left his half-developed wings out. Judging by the size of them, he guessed he was going to have to deal with the supplements. 

The meeting with the council was awful, as it always was. They poked and prodded at his body, talked about him like he wasn’t there, and all he could do was sit there and watch. He was right, he had to be given the supplements with every meal. They let him choose which Watcher would be responsible for giving him his supplements. He chose Venus. 

“You’re on your way to greatness, little one. We should be able to send you out on your first mission in the next 50 years, with supervision, of course.” Libra, one of the kinder members of the council, said to him. That seemed like forever for Grian. He figured that time would begin to move faster for him eventually. He hoped it was soon. 

\---

Time had not begun to move faster for him. The three years that had passed since he first received his wing supplements felt somehow even slower than his first 23 years of human life. Nothing had changed, except the fact that he now had a fully developed set of wings he could fly around on. He loved flying, but the Watchers constant infantilizing of him had only gotten more and more frustrating. He had to get out. 

He knew where the portal room was. He was never allowed in without half a dozen Watchers with him, but he had been in there. It was only a matter of sneaking out and finding some isolated world where he could spend his days by himself, free of the Watchers. It was a lonely existence, but he knew worlds like that existed. Watchers often put people in worlds by themselves. You got used to the loneliness after a while until it was all you knew. He craved privacy. 

Venus had slowly turned into a friend. They were working on becoming an elder, and thus had less time for Grian, but he liked spending time with them. They would be the only thing he missed. 

So when they tucked him into bed that night, and kissed him on his forehead, he grabbed their hand as they turned to leave. 

“Is everything alright Xelqua? Normally you want me out as soon as possible. I know you love your sleep.” 

“Could I have a hug? Please?” He asked them. 

“Of course.” They leaned over, squeezing him in their arms. 

“You know I hate being here. You’re the only thing that has made it bearable. Thanks.” 

“Xelqua.” They pulled away, looking at him concerned. “What’s wrong?” 

“I know that Watchers don’t celebrate birthdays, but they’re very important to humans. Today would’ve been my 26th birthday. I’m just missing my human life more than usual, I guess.” 

“Well, I don’t know much about human traditions, but I can try and see if the council will allow us to do something fun tomorrow?” 

“No, it’s fine.” He suddenly felt very guilty about this. He had to remind himself that they were the only good thing here. He would’ve felt more guilty if he left without a goodbye. 

“Goodbye, Venus.” He set his head down on the pillow. 

“I think you meant goodnight, silly. Go to bed, I can tell you’re tired.” They turned around and left, and Grian had a private weep. That was the last time he would ever see them if he was successful. He had to be successful. 

So he pretended to sleep for two hours until the rest of the Watchers rooming with him piled into their beds, and then another two hours later he snuck out of his bed, careful not to wake any of them. He quietly tip-toed out of the room, down the hall, and finally, he slunk into the portal room. 

Endless rows of Watcher portals surrounded him. He had to make a choice, and fast. 


	2. New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys this is a big day. why, u may ask? well, i finally bothered to get a beta reader! if you read my oneshots, you'll know that im not really the best at catching mistakes in my work. so thanks to my friend hunter for being my beta reader! so you guys should start seeing a major decrease in mistakes throughout my work. i still alpha my own work of course. his ao3 is hunter_is_hunted, and his tumblr is h0n04rys3n10r if you wanna go check him out!
> 
> tumblr: lemonade-cherry  
> mineblr: cherry-minecraft

The rows were endless. There must’ve been thousands and thousands of worlds, all controlled by the Watchers. None of them seemed promising. Grian kept running, up and down, up and down the aisles. How far was it to the single-player worlds? 

“Xelqua! Are you in here? You know you’re not allowed in here by yourself!” A voice called. It sounded like one of the elders. He knew the council would be on his tail any minute now if they knew that he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. The single-player worlds were so far. He didn’t have time. 

He passed a hallway labeled “Experimental Worlds.” There had to be something in there that worked. It was his only hope. He ran in. He knew the Watchers could hear him. He felt the presence of the council in the portal room.

No, no, no, no. Grian scanned the worlds. Maybe it was a mistake. He was trapped in that hallway now. There was only one portal left. He was doomed. 

“Hermitcraft. A world left alone without Watcher supervision. Longest running Watcher-less world that hasn’t fallen apart yet…” Grian stopped reading there. He had all the information he needed. He stepped into the bedrock frame, and he was teleported away. 

He was very high in the air. Panicking, he threw his wings out, using them to try and slow his descent. The gravity in this world was a lot stronger than the gravity in the Watcher Realm, where he had learned to fly. He crashed into the ground. 

He felt a hum in his chest, a metaphorical string, pulling him toward the Watcher Realm. He remembered that feeling, the tugging, getting stronger and stronger during his days in Evo, the string unbearably tight by the time the Watchers took him in. He was painfully aware of the tightness, and he supposed he would just have to get used to the pull. 

He heard footsteps approaching, and in a panic, hid his wings. He didn’t want the people of Hermitcraft, whoever they were, to think he was anything but human. 

“‘Ello?” A voice called, and he heard more footsteps join the first set. When he finally opened his eyes, it was to a whole group of people standing around him. One of the members of the group helped him up. 

“Ah, who are you?” The one who helped him up asked. It seemed to be the one that called out earlier. 

“My name is Xe-Grian.” It felt nice to use his real name instead of the one the Watchers had given him. 

“Well Grian, I’m Xisuma, and these are the Hermits. It’s a pleasure to meet you. New people are dropped here every so often, and we don’t know where they come from, but we always welcome newcomers!” It was the Watchers. They picked up people and moved them around as they pleased, plucking them from their old lives and placing them wherever they wished. Everything was the Watchers. 

“Those clothes are way too big for you, who dressed you? Come on then, I’ll get you some proper clothes, and then tonight we can have a big party to celebrate your arrival.” He then turned to the group of people watching them curiously. Xisuma held his hand up. “Grian, everyone. Everyone, Grian!” They all shouted out some form of hello and then dispersed. 

“Come along then, this way.” Xisuma started walking, and Grian stood there helplessly for a minute, watching him go. 

“Well?” Xisuma turned around. “Are you coming?” 

“Ah, yes, of course. Sorry.” Grian snapped out of it, following Xisuma. It was strangely freeing, going somewhere without a Watcher’s hand tightly wrapped around his. He supposed he’d have to get used to independence again. 

Xisuma was a chatterbox. Grian was fascinated. The Watchers had always taught them that their guidance is what kept people from destroying the worlds they created. But now that he was hearing about how long Hermitcraft had been functioning without them, Grian wondered if that was the case. Things seemed much better here than Evo or any of the other worlds the Watchers let him look in on. 

“Wow.” He commented when they reached Xisuma’s base. “You guys seem really tight-knit.”

“We are. But you’ll fit in just fine. I can tell.” Xisuma led him in, and grabbed a suitcase, packing some clothes into it. “You have any preferences?”

“No, not really.” It felt really nice to be asked what he wanted, instead of just being given whatever the Watchers felt he should have. 

“Here, I’ll just pack this up with whatever I think will fit. Go put these on.” Xisuma handed him a pair of plain black pants and a black tank top. Grian returned to the room wearing clothes that fit him for the first time since he was taken in by the Watchers. 

“There you go, much better. I noticed you didn’t have shoes by the way. This pair belonged to Etho, who isn’t with the group anymore, but I think they’re your size.” Xisuma handed him a pair of simple black dress shoes, and Grian just held them in his hands. He ran his fingers over the laces, tapped the soles, and felt the material of the inside. He didn’t know when the tears in his eyes started forming. 

“Grian? Are you alright, man? They’re just shoes.” Xisuma looked at him, worried. 

“Ah, yeah, I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying.” Grian lied. “These are wonderful, thank you.” Grian smiled at Xisuma. 

“Probably something to do with where you came from. No one here knows where we were before this but we all have some strange emotional reactions to things. Don’t worry about it.” 

Grian grabbed the suitcase and followed Xisuma out to a small wooden house. 

“This was my old house before I built my base, but you can stay here until you build your own base if you want. Who am I to tell you what to do. Remember, come to the shopping district at sundown, we’re having a party. Again, only if you want to. Bye!” Xisuma waved to him and was off. There was one thing that stuck with him. “Who am I to tell you what to do.” It felt like Xisuma was the one in charge, and yet he was giving Grian the choice to do what he wanted. He could choose. This was a big contrast to his old life with the Watchers. He almost considered not going to the party, just because he could. But, in the end, he decided to go, because he genuinely did want to meet the rest of the hermits. And it was all his choice. 

He had a feeling he had made the right choice the second he walked up to the party. There was a big fire in the middle of things where people were roasting marshmallows, and there was a variety of meat cooking above it on a stick. Every once in awhile a random hermit would walk up and check on the food, flipping the stick if needed. 

The hermits seemed to be sitting in a few small groups, but they were all around the fire. One of the hermits, a very tall man with a very prominent mustache, waved him over. Grian went and sat next to him. 

“I’m Mumbo, it’s nice to meet you.” He stuck out his hand. 

“Grian.” Grian shook his hand, smiling up at him. 

“So, how you liking it here so far?” Mumbo asked, handing him a stick and a marshmallow. 

“You guys have been so kind to me, it’s been wonderful. You’re all so accepting.” Grian took it, carefully pushing his marshmallow towards the flames. 

“We try to be. So, Grian, what do you like to do?” 

“I-” Grian stared into the fire for a second. He didn’t really know what he liked to do. The Watchers never gave him time to just do something because he enjoyed it. He tried to think back to his days on Evo. “I like to build.” He smiled softly to himself at the memory of the Empire. He remembered how he felt when he was building it, he could still feel the walls of the train station burning in his mind, and the freezing cold of the snow. He missed it. 

“Ah, a builder! You’ll have to show me the ropes sometime, I’m no good at building myself, but I like redstone. I’m not the best, of course.”

“Come on, I’m sure you’re great. I can barely get a piston to fire.” Grian jokes, pulling his marshmallow off the stick and taking the box of crackers from the Hermit next to him, who silently handed them over. Mumbo stuck a piece of chocolate in, and Grian took a bite of his s’more. He had a feeling that Xisuma was right, that he would fit in just fine. For the first time in a while, Grian was excited about the future. 


	3. Taking Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehaw school started so updates r gonna start rolling out shorter. i havent done it this way in a while, but im jusst gonna upload a chapter whenever i finish it. this story isnt on a strict upload schedule. its kinda a whenever i feel like it/if i have the time thing. 
> 
> if any of you were curious, my school year has gone pretty good so far. im trying to change a few classes i dont want anymoreso im waiting for my class change form to go through but besides that its fine. im taking apush and ap calculus tho cuz apparently i dont value my free time. 
> 
> tumblr: lemonade-cherry  
> mineblr: cherry-lemonade  
> beta reader: h0n04rys3n10r

He was a well seasoned Hermit, around since almost the very beginning. But still, Grian perplexed him. The only other new Hermit that he could compare the man to was Etho, but there was a reason Etho wasn’t really around anymore. He stepped outside. 

And speak of the devil, Grian was happily skipping around right past his base. He was shy and timid at first, but as the end of his first week drew nearer, Grian became happier and happier. Of course, if you caught him off guard he’d often be staring sadly into the distance, and he was jumpy, but he knew there was a good reason for that. He supposed it was good that Grian was so happy here. Most Hermits spent their first week confused and dazed, the journey from wherever they had all come from wasn’t pleasant. But Grian seemed to have an awful lot of clarity for a new Hermit. He knew there was a good reason for that too. Grian noticed him and waved, beaming at him. 

“Hey! Have you seen Mumbo? I’ve been looking for him all morning.” Grian smiled up at the taller Hermit. 

“Have you tried his base, maybe?” He joked with Grian, smiling. 

“Ah no, I’m not really a fan of the swim over. I was gonna check there next.” Grian smiled sheepishly, scratching an itch on his neck. “Thanks anyway! Goodbye!”

“Bye Grian!” He waved as the boy ran off, returning to the inside of his base. Grian was surely something else, wasn’t he? He figured he should stop thinking about the newcomer, surely he’d get to know him eventually. Judging by the fact that Grian was always running around somewhere. He reached up, scratching an itch on his neck and continued on with his work. 

\--

Grian’s first few days on the Hermitcraft server had been terrifying, but he was pretty sure that if the Watchers knew were he was, they would’ve collected him by now. Of course, if the Watchers ever decided to end their experiment there was no hope for him, but that hadn’t happened yet. He went on his way to find Mumbo. 

Ever since the party, he and Mumbo had become closer. They were a pretty good team. Hermitcraft was a much more advanced world than Evo, and he was fascinated by the redstone that Mumbo was able to do. Mumbo was fascinated with watching him build. Grian was delighted to build something other than Watcher structures. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed building. His boat approached the island his friend was living on, and he looked up in shock as he saw his friend soaring in the air. His shock subsided when he saw the wings were artificial, but still, this wasn’t like anything they had on Evo. Most things in Hermitcraft weren’t like anything they had on Evo. 

“Grian!” Mumbo flew down to him, landing softly. Grian yearned to use his wings again. He wondered if these would be a good supplement.

“What are those!?” Was the first thing that came out of Grian’s mouth, processing before a hello. He leaped out of his boat, rushing towards his friend to examine them. 

“Elytra? It’s strange, a lot of things are new for you here. Most of us came to Hermitcraft with all the prior knowledge about the land, but not you. You only seem to know about things that are years and years old. 

When Grian became a Watcher, he found out that Evo was behind most worlds. That, and his time with the Watchers had put him behind, it seemed. He was determined to catch up. He didn’t tell Mumbo that. 

“How do they work?” Grian was fascinated with the Elytra. Mumbo untied them, handing them to Grian, who ran his hands over them in fascination. 

“Well, you strap yourself in, which is really quite an annoying process, then you use rockets to propel yourself in the air. You die if you run into something too fast, but as long as someone grabs your things it’s fine. It’s one of the most painless ways to die. Just smack! And you’re back in your bed” Mumbo acted out the last bit with his hands, and Grian giggled as he crashed his hands together. 

“You’ve got to teach me how to fly, this is so cool!” Grian tried to see how to strap it on but was quickly confused. Mumbo walked around him, grabbing the Elytra and begin strapping them on to his friend. 

“You should probably wear a long-sleeved shirt if you’re going to do this again. Elytra tend to give you some pretty nasty rashes if you’re not used to the sensation.” Mumbo began tightening the strings around Grian’s upper arms as he spoke. Most of what Xisuma had given him to wear was black tank tops. Grian didn’t mind, he liked them. They were comfortable and fit well. 

“All done!” Mumbo announces, tying the last strap around his shorter friend’s waist and stepping back. “Here, lift your hand up towards the sun. Feel the air resistance?” Grian followed his friends instructions, lifting his wrist up. His hand dangled uselessly. Around his wrist was a thick strap of leather, and attached to them was a fairly thick string. At the end of the foot-long string was the bottom of the elytra wing, and it followed his hand upwards. He felt the wind.

“If you give me a second to go put on my spare elytra, I can show you how to fly?” Mumbo offered. 

“Yes!” Grian hopped on his feet a little. 

“You should have seen that your eyes like, physically lit up. I remember how excited I was the first time I used an elytra. I’ll be right back.” Mumbo smiled and walked away. Grian took a breath. He knew he was excited, but he had to calm down. All the Watchers shared signature glowing white eyes, and Grian had a harder time hiding his Watcher features when he was experiencing strong emotions. He found himself crying himself to sleep about Evo the second night in and woke up with his wings out, despite never having freed them. By the time Mumbo had returned Grian was back to normal. 

“Okay, so, it’s a lot easier to take off if you’re jumping off a ledge, so we’re going to the treehouse.” Grian followed him, where Mumbo handed him some brightly colored rockets. 

“These rockets are how you keep your momentum, just pull this tab here and it’ll go off. If you hold it like this, you can pull the tab with one hand, look.” After Grian got the hang of using the elytra, Mumbo brought him to the edge of the treehouse. “Well, the best way to learn is through failure. Go!” And before Grian could realize what was going on, a firm hand on his shoulder blades was shoving him off. Grian panicked for a second before pulling the tab on a firework, shooting into the air at the last second. Once he had gotten into the air, he was a lot calmer. It felt very similar to flying with his wings, but instead of controlling them directly, he made the movements with his arms, and the wings followed. He got the hang of it quickly, and soon Mumbo joined him. Sure, it was a lot slower than flying with his natural wings, but he was glad that he didn’t have to give up flying, which he loved. 

After a while of flying, Mumbo landed, and prepared to catch Grian. Grian made a smooth landing and smiled up at his friend. 

“Wow. I’m shocked actually. No one ever sticks their first elytra landing. You know, for someone who has never done this before, you’re incredible!” Grian felt good. Maybe he didn’t have to associate flying with the Watchers anymore. Maybe they didn’t have to sour one of his favorite things anymore. Not even bothering to take off his elytra, he gave Mumbo a crushing hug, burrowing his head into his friend’s chest. Mumbo squeezed him back just as tight. 


	4. Electric

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey i’m doing something bold n brash...i’m uploading this on my phone (i didn’t write it on my phone hell no i enjoy having working thumbs)
> 
> anyways i was right about updates rolling out slower because of school, the first two weeks were fine but now that i’ve finished out my third week i’m SWAMPED w/work. y’all r just gonna have to deal tho because as much as i love writing fic my schoolwork takes more priority. soz lol. hope u enjoy!
> 
> tumblr: lemonade-cherry  
> mineblr: cherry-minecraft   
> beta reader: h0n04rys3n10r

Grian’s worries about being caught by the Watchers had settled considerably as his second week in Hermitcraft drew to a close. Until a night halfway through the third week. 

He woke up in a room full of void blocks. He watched the blue particles, entranced, before realizing that he was trapped. He was suspended in nothingness, and as far as he was aware the room stretched on forever. Panicked, he began running. He didn’t know where or why. How could he have known where he was going? If there was anything to go to? His logical brain knew that this was getting him nowhere and still he ran. And after his legs almost gave out he realized that the hermits weren’t there to see him. He freed his wings and flew further. After what felt like forever, a rather large hand grabbed the back of his neck like a mother cat grabs her kittens. He was pulled into a room, and he recognized it as a Watcher structure. He ached for his life on Evo. HIs vision faded to a black, a clean white Watcher symbol the center of his vision. 

Then Grian actually woke up. In a panic, he fell off his bed, and looked up to see a protection barrier surrounding him. Grian had unwillingly assumed his full Watcher form, and he felt the magic coursing through his veins. In a panic, he realized that he was very exposed to the world on his cobblestone platform. His unfinished base offered him little to no privacy. He ran to the edge of the platform, staring at his reflection in the water. 

He didn’t like what was staring back at him. His whole body glowed softly white, but his eyes and wings in particular gleamed. The white glow had completely covered his iris and pupil, and his eyes were empty white sockets. His hair stood up in every direction, a result of the electricity of his magic. Glowing white sparks flew out of his whole body, but mostly from his hair and his hands. On his neck a Watcher symbol was printed, also glowing white. Grian didn’t think it was possible to look so scary and scared at the same time. The pull to the Watcher realm was stronger than ever. 

He grabbed the edge of his base, hearing the cobblestone crackle softly under his hands. He plunged his face into the water and tried to focus on the ice cold of the ocean. After 5 minutes he calmed himself down enough to conceal his Watcher form once again, and pulled his head out of the water. 

He looked normal again. But on his neck the Watcher symbol was still there, elegantly tattooed in black. How long had that been there? He was very lucky that none of the hermits had noticed this. He ran to the suitcase of clothes Xisuma had given him, searching for anything that would cover his neck. There was only one or two shirts in there that weren’t tank tops. Finally, right at the bottom, Grian found it. A simple, brick red sweater. He pulled it over his head and felt safe. 

After making sure that he was back to normal, he decided what he was going to do that day. He hadn’t talked to a lot of the hermits since the party, and he figured it was high time he got to know the lot a little better. He equipped his elytra and flew to the shopping district, as it was more likely than not that another person was there. 

The first person he ran into was Stress, who greeted him with a warm smile and a hug. He smiled and greeted her back. He shopped with her for a little bit. 

“So Grian, have you settled in?” Stress asked. 

“Sort of? I’ve moved out of Xisuma’s starter home, but my base is just a cobblestone platform in the middle of the ocean right now.” He admitted sheepishly. 

“Grian! That’s so dangerous! You’ve got to be wary of the phantoms?” Her motherly instincts kicked in. 

“Phantoms?” He glanced at her curiously. 

“Ah, I forget there’s so many things you’re not aware of. If you don’t sleep for a while they’ll come for ya. They’re strong! Just be careful, okay?” 

“I will, don’t worry.” He sat on a chest in Zedaph’s shop as she paid for her quartz. 

“Well, that’s all the shopping I needed to do. Think I’ll head back to the base. You’re welcome to join me.”

“Ah, that’s fine. Thank you though. It was nice talking to you.” Grian smiled at her, and after Stress gave him one last hug he was alone again. 

The next hermit he ran into was Iskall. Besides Mumbo, Iskall was one of the only Hermits that Grian talked to on a regular basis. Well, Xisuma too, but Grian didn’t count that. X was just doing his duties as the one who ran the server. 

“Grian! How you doin’ man!” Iskall greated him, and his happiness was infectious. While Grian was generally pretty happy after escaping the Watchers, Iskall was happy in a different way. Grian was pretty quiet about his glee, and Iskall was big and loud with how he expressed his joy. And it seemed that the man was always happy. So, Grian perked up. 

“Pretty good, pretty good. Met up with Stress earlier.”

“Stress! Ah, I love her! Have you gotten a chance to check out her whole castle operation yet?” Iskall asked as they wandered aimlessly around the shopping district. 

“No, is it interesting?” Grian asked. 

“Oh, it’s so cool man! I think you’d appreciate it more since you’re a builder. Speaking of, how is your base coming along?”

“It’s still a cobblestone platform for now, but it’s getting somewhere. I’m trying to gather concrete right now, which is tedious, to say the least. 

“Well, you’re better off than you were before. I expect something big from you.” Iskall joked, and the two boys laughed before continuing to walk. Soon, Grian and Iskall ran into Joe, and he greeted the duo joyfully. 

“Howdy y’all!” Joe called out, waving toward them before running over. Iskall and Grian went to join him. 

“Joe! How are you, man?” Iskall greeted him. 

“Hello, Joe.” Grian waved. 

“What are you two up to?” Joe asked, beginning to walk with them. 

“Oh, just shopping, you?” Grian scratched an itch on his neck and they ducked into a random shop after Iskall. 

“Same as you, kinda the reason people go here.” Joe joked, smiling. The two sat on a chest together while Iskall rifled through some other ones. 

“We’ve got to get together sometime, I’ve only ever seen you in passing.” Grian said, leaning his back against the wall. 

“We do, you’re real fun to be around Grian.” Joe smiled at him. Grian noticed that the pull towards the Watcher dimension loosened. Something about Joe was able to get him to bring himself back to the present. He pinned it on Joe’s paternal aura. 

“You know, I had kind of a rough morning this morning. But, I’m feeling a lot better now. I reckon I just needed some time with my friends. Gotta admit, I feel really safe around you.” Grian said. 

“Really? I’m glad.” 


	5. What’s up Danger?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you’ll never guess what song inspired this chapter. sorry for the long wait between updates. i’m in ap hell. i literally turned this in for my english class open writing, because that’s the only way i could fit this chapter into my schedule. i’ve got 5-8 hours of homework every night. thanks for reading hope u enjoy k thanks bye gotta go i have homework 
> 
> tumblr: lemonade-cherry  
> mineblr: cherry-lemonade   
> beta reader: h0n04rys3n10r

Grian sat on the edge of his half-finished base, legs dangling in the air. The ocean waves rolled, miles and miles below him. The futuristic tower he had in mind was looking more like a water filter and less like the formidable pillar he imagined in his mind. He supposed that it would look nice eventually. He glanced up from the ocean and noticed rainclouds quickly heading his way. He supposed he should be off to see Mumbo now. It wasn’t safe to fly in the rain, no matter how experienced you were. Grian only felt truly safe flying in the rain with his real wings. 

But he wasn’t about to let the others know that he was anything less than human. So he stood up, and took a deep breath, making sure any magical part of his body was safely concealed. He pulled the red collar of his sweater up a little higher, making sure it covered the very prominent Watcher symbol printed on his neck. He was certain it had gotten darker and darker ever since he noticed it. He assumed that it used to be so faint that the others couldn’t see it, and that’s how he was able to get by undetected for so long. He strapped on his elytra, making sure he was tied in securely, before sprinting and jumping straight off the edge of his tower. 

He soon landed safely on Mumbo’s island, looking up  through the drizzle in astonishment. The last time he was there a few days ago, there was nothing but a small treehouse and a couple of chests. Now, there was a huge circular base, covered in rings. At the center, there were two walkways around a central circle. That’s where everything seemed to be happening. 

“Mumbo!” Grian called out to his friend, still starting up in shock. “You said you were no good at building, what is this?”

“Trust me, this is like my sixth draft. I had to go through a  **lot** of different versions before I landed on this!” Mumbo called back, turning off whatever contraption he was working on and walking over to meet him. As much as Grian loved Mumbo, he wasn’t too fond of standing next to him. It reminded him too much of the Watchers. Mumbo was tall, very tall, standing at about 6’3”. The shortest Watchers were around 7 feet tall. (Grian didn’t count himself. The rest of the Watchers had been Watchers forever. He was human before they had mercilessly plucked him from his old life and forced him to join their ranks. He didn’t want to associate himself with them anyway.)

“Well, I’d say that looks pretty nice to me. But, that blue there really blends in with the white, try a darker shade.” Grian pointed to a bit of detailing in the rings. 

“Look at you Mr. Builder, already making adjustments.” Mumbo laughed, giving his friend a quick hug before stepping back. Grian began taking off his elytra. 

“You know, for someone who knows so little about the world, it's amazing that you’ve picked up flying so quickly. Most of us fumbled for months before we got the hang of it. Maybe you flew a lot in your old world. Although, the elytra were completely new to you. You are a weird one Grian.” 

“Good weird or bad weird?” Grian asked, setting his elytra down and sitting on a chest. Mumbo joined him, settling on a patch of grass. 

“Good weird. Most people are already knowledgeable on most of the natural phenomena when we find them. I wonder why you only remember things from 5 years ago.”

_ “Definitely not because I was forced to live in the Watcher dimension for 5 years with no outside contact. No, not at all.” _ Grian thought to himself. He forced himself to smile at his friend. “Yeah, it is strange. Maybe you could teach me though? We’ve got time to kill today.” 

“You know what, you’re right, come on.” Mumbo quickly sprang up, grabbing Grian’s hand and pulled him off somewhere. Being dragged behind him, hand in hand, reminded Grian all too much of the Watcher’s strict rules. He tried to push down the thought. Mumbo wasn’t like that. 

And he proved it. He showed him the world. The flowers, the animals and the food. He let Grian touch and mess around with even the most expensive of his possessions. And he was so, so patient. When he took Grian to the beach, they were lucky enough to watch a group of baby sea turtles emerging from their shells. And when he started sobbing, Mumbo went off to give him some privacy without being asked. 

He was glad. He didn’t know why he was crying. But hot tears, glowing white and sparking with magic were streaming down his face and landing in the soft sand that he sat in. He could feel the sparks in his hair landing softly on his neck, and as per usual his hands were sparking as well. His magic poured out of him whenever he felt any emotion too strongly. 

The baby turtles walked past him, waddling into the ocean. One was lagging behind. On closer inspection, Grian realized that it was missing a leg. He leaned forward, reaching for the turtle. He figured he could carry it to the ocean, since it seemed to be struggling on its own. He scooped the turtle up in his hands, but almost dropped it when it began glowing white. 

When the glow faded away the turtle had all four legs, and looked healthier than the others. Grian set it down and it quickly caught up to its brothers and sisters. He looked down at his hands, the sparks of his magic still crackling. 

He knew that the Watchers were not good beings. They treated humans like their little pets. They caused wars, burned down buildings, plucked people from one world to another, moving them around as they pleased. The Watchers did a lot of destroying. But they also did a lot of creating. The Watchers had created it all, the turtles and the roses and his favorite foods. He didn’t have to follow in their footsteps. His magic made him capable of creating beautiful things. 

It was getting dark. He figured that Mumbo was getting worried. He composed himself, went back to his human form, and walked off to find his friend. But not before waving goodbye to the turtles. 

After a whole day of exploring, Grian could safely say that he was exhausted. He sat on top of Mumbo’s circular base, legs dangling. It reminded him of the morning, except for the artificial blue glow of Mumbo’s lights. 

“Mumbo, today was wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to teach me.” 

“It was nothing. You’re my best friend.” Mumbo leaned over and smiled at him and Grian was moved to almost tears for the second time that day. The way Mumbo turned toward him, the way his head tilted to the head and the smile gently formed on his face. It reminded him all too much of Taurtis. He looked down. 

“Grian, oh no, don’t be upset. Uh, here.” Mumbo panicked, pulling something out of his pocket. 

“What’s that?” Grian asked, starting over curiously. Mumbo didn’t answer. He instead set the something, a diamond, down on the floor, and brought out his axe. He cut the gem in half, and handed one of the halves to Grian. 

“I was going to save this for later, put it on a chain or something, but right now felt like a better time. They’re like friendship bracelets, but less lame.” Mumbo set his half down safely in his pocket. 

“Thank you.” Grian smiled, leaning forward and hugging Mumbo before quickly flying off. If he was going to start crying again, he had to be alone. He worked so hard to hide the fact that he was a Watcher, he wasn’t letting all that go to waste over something so small. 

On his way home, he had to fly over the lava pits. Lava had always scared him. He tried to fly over it quickly, but he got clumsy. 

And soon the diamond was flying out of his pocket. He panicked, diving down after it. But his elytra didn’t bring him down fast enough. He fumbled, trying to untie himself from the contraption. He didn’t care if his elytra got burned. He could always make another set. 

He shucked them off just in time, letting his body return to its natural form. He grabbed the diamond, pulling himself up last second with his actual wings. They were much more powerful than the bundle of fabric, leather, string, and straps that he and the others normally flew around with. They were also much faster. He zoomed home. 

He landed on top of his tower, not even bothering to go inside before collapsing to the ground. The Watcher symbol on his neck burned. 


	6. His Answer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the penultimate chapter! my beta reader literally freaked out when i sent this to him. besides that, i think this chapter really speaks for itself, enjoy!
> 
> tumblr: lemonade-cherry   
> mineblr: cherry-minecraft   
> beta reader: h0n04rys3n10r

Joe loved being a hermit. He was very glad that he did, as he had given up a lot to become a hermit. He didn’t regret it. He took a deep breath. He was glad he risked everything to be where he was. 

He got out of bed and quickly got dressed before heading out. He had promised Cleo that they would hang out today. Cleo had an armor stand commission she was working on, and Joe wanted some time to write. Of course, they could do these things by themselves, but Cleo enjoyed the company and Joe never minded sitting with her. 

So after they met up and exchanged their usual bear hug, they both began working. Cleo used her magic book, manipulating the armor stands in a way that always fascinated Joe. He didn’t watch, though. Instead, he sat down, pulling out his own (not magic) book, and dipping his feather in the ink, before beginning to write. The soothing scratch of his quill against paper was all the noise shared between the two, both of them deep in their work. 

“Say, Cleo, what are you working on?” Joe broke the silence. 

“I’m going to be honest, I don’t really know. I just do the commission, get paid, and get out. Something about fish though, as far as the book is concerned.” 

“Huh. Well, if it makes money, it makes money.” He went back to his work. 

Joe wrote about Grian. He wrote a lot about Grian, ever since he noticed something off about the newest hermit. Something about Grian was different. Different like Joe was. Maybe they shared the Joe Hills Difference? He supposed he would have to rename it if that were the case. Of course, he wasn’t going to bring it up with Grian, unless he was sure that his suspicions were true. 

He wrote about Grian and his elytra. Flying seemed to come so naturally to him, as if the elytra were just an extension of his body. Sooner or later, Cleo finished her work, and after a goodbye and a promise to hang out again soon, Joe was gone. 

He was flying over the shopping district when he saw Scar, gently carrying Jellie in his hands as he walked. Joe flew down beside them. 

“Howdy Scar! And howdy Ms. Jellie!” Joe smiled at them, gently petting Jellie. She purred and leaned into Joe’s touch. 

“Hey, Joe!” Scar smiled back at his friend. “What brings you to the shopping district?”

“Oh, just flyin’ by. Saw you and figured I’d say hi.” Joe said. 

“Hey, that rhymes! Spoken like a true poet.” Scar joked. “Speaking of, you working on anything new recently?”

“Nothing worth sharing.” Joe lied. Sure, his recent writings were  _ worth _ sharing, he just didn’t really  _ want _ to share them. 

“Everything you write is wonderful Joe, I’m sure whatever it is, it’s wonderful. But, I won’t press.” A parrot flew by, and Jellie meowed aggressively at her owner. Scar set her down, making sure to keep a close eye on her as she ran off.

“You sure have a lot of faith in her, letting her run off like that,” Joe commented. 

“Oh, she’ll come back, she always does.” Scar shrugged, leaning against the side of iTrade. “Say, when’s the last time you got your hair cut? I’d be willing to bet money that you have longer hair than Stress at this point.” Scar teased, grabbing a chunk of Joe’s hair for effect. 

“I prefer it long.”Joe stepped back, trying to not appear hostile. The truth is, he really would love to cut it short. But he had it so long for a reason. 

“Well, I’ve gotta do some trading, so I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. Bye Joe!”

“Bye Scar!” Joe waved, and as he turned around he heard Scar call for Jellie. He watched her run past him, following Scar into the building. 

She always comes back, that’s what Scar had said. He used to always come back too. He hoped that Jellie wouldn’t follow in his footsteps. 

He decided to walk home instead of flying. He needed something to ground himself. He looked around at the buildings around him. He loved being a hermit. He had given up so, so much to be where he was. 

The all familiar voice in the back of his head piped up, condescending as always. “I hope it was worth it.” 

“Yes, shut up.” It didn’t reply. It never did. It felt real, and separate from himself when it spoke, but as soon as it went away, it felt distant, and made up. Joe didn’t know if he was just imagining their presence or not. 

He took a long way home. He walked past the shopping district, right to the shore. Grian’s base was almost finished. It probably would be completed sometime in the next few days. He debated grabbing a boat and swimming over. He shook his head. His body told him to turn around and go home, but he didn’t. He stood there and stared. There was no way that Grian was like him, was there? He hoped that the younger wasn’t, for both their sakes. But he couldn’t be too careful. He was wrong about Etho, and look where that landed him. He hoped that Etho wasn’t too traumatized from the experience. But also, if he was right about Grian and didn’t say anything, that would be really bad for him. 

There was a brilliant white light, streaking towards Grian’s base at high speed. He looked closer and saw Grian zooming towards his base. There was no way he could’ve flown that fast with the elytra. Grian landed on top of his tower and crumpled to the floor. The light went out. Joe instinctively reached up, scratching at his neck until it was red. He too crumpled to the floor. 

Well. He had his answer. 

Joe got up and walked home. He looked in the mirror and sighed wistfully. He really wished he could cut his hair, but he had to hide it. 

“I don’t regret it,” Joe mumbled to himself before turning and walking away. 


	7. Watchers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE
> 
> self harm tw. nothing major, and its only for a few lines. if you don't want to read it starts with "Once, he had gotten so fed up with it that he..." and ends at "Grian landed on top of his tower after one of his..." it's not super important to the plot, but ill put what happened in the end notes if you wanna know what happened. 
> 
> anyways! the end! it's finished! i suppose now is a good time to tell you that im writing a sequel. the prologue is being posted directly after this, so you can go and subscribe to the sequel as soon as you finish this one. just go to my account and its the fic titled "The Similarities". idk when the first real chapter is being posted, but the prologue is there already. 
> 
> well, it's been a wild ride. this fic has been my baby for the past few months. i can't believe i actually finished it. thanks for reading, and thanks for all the kind comments, they really kept me going. this fic is probably the work im most proud of out of all my works. so, thank you guys! see you in the sequel!
> 
> tumblr: lemonade-cherry  
> mineblr: cherry-minecraft  
> beta reader: h0n04rys3n10r

Grian was going to go crazy if he had to keep it up for much longer. He was constantly having to let his wings out, he’d begun building Watcher structures without even realizing it, his nightmares were becoming more and more frequent, and often Iskall or Mumbo would catch him staring off into the abyss with cold, glowing white eyes. He figured that suppressing his natural urges for so long was unhealthy, but he refused to accept the fact that these behaviors were now natural to him. So he continued to ignore it until he couldn’t anymore. 

He then found ways to cope. He had built a glass bottle underwater, encasing a ship, and that was where he kept his Watcher things. If anyone had actually bothered to swim down there, they would see half-finished bedrock structures littered everywhere, statues of Watchers, and books and books of riddles, hastily scribbled down. If anyone had actually bothered to read the books and decode the riddles, they’d find instructions leading to faraway lands. And if they actually traveled to these faraway lands, they’d find life-size, authentic Watcher structures, waiting for them with another riddle, or a reward. But, no one ever bothered to swim down there. So things were fine. 

This was also when Grian let himself assume his full Watcher form. He felt disgusted with himself at first, willingly letting it out, but he always felt more himself afterward. He hated the fact that he felt more like himself when he was in Watcher from. He was supposed to be human, and yet he felt complete as something obviously not human. 

Soon, the ship in the bottle wasn’t enough, and he graduated to just leaving his base in the middle of the night. He’d fly around, build something, take it down, build it again, take it down again, fly around some more, heal some hurt animals, mess around with his magic until the whole birch forest was encased in glowing white flames, fly around even more, and just do Watcher things until the pull in his chest loosened. But soon even that wasn’t enough. 

Sometimes, in the middle of the day, the pull towards the Watcher dimension would be so strong that he would just crumble to the floor and cry, clutching his chest. But the thing that was the worst was the Watcher symbol on his neck. It stopped going back to its normal form, instead, it became a permanent state of glowing white. Grian was always aware of it, a dull presence as he worked away on whatever he was doing, but sometimes it would flare up out of nowhere, and he would be stuck, scratching it until it was red and raw. Once, he had gotten so fed up with it that he grabbed his sword and sliced his neck right through the symbol, just to feel anything other than his magic. He bled glowing white Watcher blood where the symbol was, and normal human blood everywhere else, and they mixed to form a red hot, sticky pink goo that flowed down his bare shoulder and onto the floor of his base. To his disgust, he found it stuck in the feathers of his wings the next morning, and since then he sported a very distinct scar, right between the symbol. 

Grian landed on top of his tower after one of his routine 3 am flights, feet touching the ground in a graceful landing. He took a lap around the top of his tower and admired his now finished base. He had come a long way since he first became a hermit. He was just about to head to bed when he heard someone land behind him. Well, he guessed now was the time that he would have to confess to being a Watcher. 

But when he turned around, it wasn’t a friendly, confused hermit he was met with. It was another Watcher. In a pair of jeans and a black button-up, he stood, a confident smirk on his face as he gracefully slinked toward Grian. His long brown hair was pulled back to reveal his Watcher symbol, and while he glowed with magic, it was a duller glow than Grian’s brilliant white. Then again, the other Watchers had more control of their magic than he did. The less visible your magic, the more experienced you were. It was a symbol of status among the Watchers. 

As he approached, Grian realized who the Watcher was. 

“Joe?” He asked, astonished. The Joe that was standing in front of him was not the fatherly, happy Joe that Grian had gotten to know, but rather a tall figure of authority with a condescending air about him. Joe stopped right in front of him, and the smirk intensified as Joe looked down at him. 

“I’m surprised it took you so long to figure out Xelqua. Didn’t you see the signs? I thought you were smarter than this, Little Watcher.” Joe had a laid-back attitude, but it was still apparent that he could easily ruin everything for you with just a snap of his fingers. It was obvious that Joe had power, and used that power flippantly. 

Grian took a step back. Joe took a step forward. 

“You shouldn’t have been so sloppy, Xelqua. Don’t you think we had the foresight to put someone here to check up on things? Do you really think that we’d actually leave a world without any Watchers? Come on, you know better. It’s time to go home Xelqua.” 

Grian finally found his voice. “I-I can’t. You know the torture they have in store for me. You should know as well as me that I can’t return.” 

“Oh, don’t worry.” Joe’s voice had taken on a tone of obviously false comfort, and he leaned forward, lovingly grabbing Grian’s cheek. “The elders aren’t mad at you, just disappointed.” His voice was so condescending, paired with his fake sympathetic frown, Grian was filled with hatred. He couldn't stop himself from breathing a sigh of relief, though. 

“The council, on the other hand…” Joe mentioned, seemingly offhandedly, but Grian knew this was all calculated to perfectly make his blood boil and set his nerves to high alert. “The council is very upset with you.” Grian took another step back, afraid once again, and panicked when he realized that he was on the edge of the tower. 

And just as Joe was about to push him off, his demeanor broke. His magic shone through, matching Grian’s energy level, and his facade changed until he was back to the normal Joe that Grian knew and loved. 

“Grian! You need to go back to them. I don’t care how scary the punishment, it’s better than what will happen if you stay. It’s not worth it, it’s not worth it, it’s not worth it, it’s not wo-” As quickly as he broke, he came back. He gave Grian a wicked smile and pushed him off.

Grian grabbed his hand, and they both began the tumble towards the ocean. The real Joe broke through again, and he began sobbing. 

“I’m so sorry Grian.” Joe choked up, eyes clouded with hot white tears. 

Grian pulled Joe into an inhumanely tight hug, and the two Watchers held each other as they fell. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as my dear dear beta reader hunter said "that ended on a cliffhanger. literally."   
> well, that's all folks!
> 
> for people who skipped over the self harm trigger: all that happened was grian got fed up with his Watcher symbol acting up out of nowhere. so he took his sword and cut right through it because the magic was bothering. it started bleeding, and now he has a scar right between his symbol.


End file.
